Water sharing, LoCs to dominate JCC talks

Water sharing issues of the Teesta and other common rivers and LoC projects will be the key issues to be discussed in the upcoming Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) between Bangladesh and India.

Foreign ministers of both the countries will lead their respective delegations in the meeting to be held on September 29 through virtual platform.

Another key focus of the JCC this time will be the finalisation of the programmes for the Mujib Birth Centenary and for the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two neighbouring nations. The JCC is regarded as crucial this time in the wake of the regional geopolitical development, especially the rising tensions between China and India over recent border clashes.

Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Riva Ganguly Das met Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday to discuss the agenda of the JCC.

Another meeting will be held between the representatives of the two countries to chalk out the details of the 'deliverable issues' on Sunday in Dhaka.

"Not only the Teesta, we shall hold discussion on the water sharing issues of all the common rivers." the foreign secretary said when asked about the agenda of the JCC.

The issue of stalled Joint River Commission meeting will also come up for discussion in the meeting. He expressed the hope that the two ministers will give a guideline for this so that the JRC meeting can be held soon.

Highlighting the significance of holding the JRC, he said the meeting will help remove confusions in the minds of people.

There was an agreement between the two countries on the exchange of data to prepare a framework for interim sharing agreements for six rivers - Manu, Muhuri, Khowai and Gomati of Tripura and Dharla of Bangladesh and Dudhkumar of West Bengal.

But the crucial issue of water sharing of the Teesta could not be resolved for the last nine years due to stiff opposition from the West Bengal government.

Bangladesh has sought loan for a project on the water management of the Teesta from China recently, which according to the Indian media 'caused unease among the top rung of the Indian government'.

The foreign secretary said that the Indian high commissioner met him to discuss the agenda of the upcoming JCC, and fix the deliverable issues between the two countries.

Usually the entire gamut of bilateral issues is discussed in the JCC, but in the virtual meeting there are limitations regarding the detailed discussion.

The meeting will also focus on the quick implementation of the projects taken up under the Indian Line of Credit.

There is also a proposal for creating a mechanism so that the progress of the LoC projects can be reviewed by a secretary-level body. This will also be discussed in the meeting.

Bangladesh expects that there will be a positive outcome on the issue of killing at the border in the upcoming Indo-Bangladesh border talks scheduled to be held on September 17.

Asked what will be the stance of Bangladesh in the JCC on this issue, the foreign secretary said if both sides can keep the previous pledges to ensure zero casualty on the border , the problem could be resolved easily.

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